Masterpieces from the Lanckoroński Collection. A Second Look

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27 October 2024 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the delivery of the paintings donated by Karolina Lanckorońska to Wawel Royal Castle. In her letter to the President of the Republic of Poland of 8 September 1994, she wrote: “76 of them are works painted in Italy, from the 14th to the 16th century. Therefore, they come from the country whose architects created the courtyard and rooms of Wawel in the same period. All of them … were collected by my Father, Karol Lanckoroński.”

This splendid gift – 87 paintings, among which are a few works from the Netherlands and Spain – is exhibited in the halls of Wawel Royal Castle’s upper floor. The Italian works constitute almost half of the entire collection of Old Master Italian paintings that Karol Lanckoroński collected in the last decades of the 19th century. The count’s Neo-Baroque palace at Jacquingasse 18 in Vienna, built “as a haven for the works of art of bygone eras,” became a kind of a museum, completely filled with works of art. It was especially famous for the unique collection of ancient art and Italian Renaissance painting. Karolina Lanckorońska compared the family collection to “a huge stamp collection … with hidden gems.”

The palace existed for less than 50 years – its history ends with World War II. The collection was dispersed. “In those difficult years, my brother and later also I were forced to sell part of the collection,” mentioned Karolina Lanckorońska. Among the works sold off were paintings presented in the exhibition and discussed in this catalogue.

 

Author: dr Joanna Winiewicz-Wolska

Pages: 120
Cover: hardcover